Fraser Early Run Chinook 1982 to 2018 (April 22 to May 20) Albion test fishery 2018 Brood Year

[wildmanyeah]

When I started fishing in the Fraser in the 1990’s I’d you had a boat you could easily find a bar to fish that had no one on it. You could launch at Kilby in peak season and there always a parking spot. When I stopped fishing the Fraser in the early 2000’s everyone had a boat, jet boats became popular and kilby was lined up out the campground. Every bar even the remote ones had tones of people fishing them.

Never fished in May, June that’s when I went to the interior and fished for trout.

I only bar fished for chinook a few times in the summer.

However if I look back on that time it’s pretty obvious that sockeye fever killed sports fishing. That became a cash cow for all the tackle shops and my nabours that did not fish bought boats and headed out to fish bars on the Fraser.

If I was one of the bar fishermen at that time I would of been pretty sick at what the river turned into to. That’s when my family bought an ocean boat and never went back to the river.

That’s of course leaving out all the stuff on the gilnet fishery and what it became but we have bought that up a lot.

Even if stocks recovered that may/June bar fishery will never come out. Fred’s would promote the **** out of it and 3000+ anglers would be out the next day. Not to mention everyone and their sister now has a jet boat to fish for sturg. How Fred is affording to open a new store in this environment is crazy.

I feel sorry for the bar fishermen they got screwed right over by sockeye.

 

[Derby]

U have to remember the as sport fisherman we only have access to a over all harvest I believe 5% of sockeye....

 

[wildmanyeah]

Yeah that’s not what I’m taking about I’m talking about the thousands of anglers and nets the sockeye fishery brought out to the river bars. It was bad for the chinook fishery

U have to remember the as sport fisherman we only have access to a over all harvest I believe 5% of sockeye....

The 5% allocation for sockeye, pinks and chum, with the same access as commercial fishing that is a topic for another debate and we typically use 1 to 2% of it.

 

[california]

U have to remember the as sport fisherman we only have access to a over all harvest I believe 5% of sockeye....

That is true, but the utilization isn't the issue as it has always been small, once the Fraser river was opened up to sockeye (and pink and Chum) there was an explosion of anglers on the river, and the "inventon" of the bottom bouncing 10 foot (or more) leader technique for sockeye. Sport retention of sockeye, pink and chum was not allowed in fresh water, including the Fraser up until the early 90s I believe. Those were species reserved for commercials. Catching a chum on the Vedder or Chehalis was considered a nusiance and the expectation was to point your rod at it and break it off so everyone could get back to coho when i first started fishing those rivers.

 

[wildmanyeah]

That is true, but the utilization isn't the issue as it has always been small, once the Fraser river was opened up to sockeye (and pink and Chum) there was an explosion of anglers on the river, and the "inventon" of the bottom bouncing 10 foot (or more) leader technique for sockeye. Sport retention of sockeye, pink and chum was not allowed in fresh water, including the Fraser up until the early 90s I believe. Those were species reserved for commercials. Catching a chum on the Vedder or Chehalis was considered a nusiance and the expectation was to point your rod at it and break it off so everyone could get back to coho when i first started fishing those rivers.

I am so bad at articulating my thoughts, Thank you. I have always had a math brain.

 

[Derby]

That is true, but the utilization isn't the issue as it has always been small, once the Fraser river was opened up to sockeye (and pink and Chum) there was an explosion of anglers on the river, and the "inventon" of the bottom bouncing 10 foot (or more) leader technique for sockeye. Sport retention of sockeye, pink and chum was not allowed in fresh water, including the Fraser up until the early 90s I believe. Those were species reserved for commercials. Catching a chum on the Vedder or Chehalis was considered a nusiance and the expectation was to point your rod at it and break it off so everyone could get back to coho when i first started fishing those rivers.

Yup. well aware of it, was on the board of director of Steelhead society in the late 80's when that discussion was going on. There were many discussion that were talked about, myself & others considered this a major turning point in angling, for that matter anglers behavior which it did bring a new breed of angler to the rivers regarding all aspect of angling. ( salmon & steelheading). ..but what the point here? are you saying are 5% is the down fall or we shouldn't have access to these fish in abundance years?

 

[california]

but what the point here? are you saying are 5% is the down fall or we shouldn't have access to these fish in abundance years?

No, not at all. The sport take, esp in a dominant year on sockeye is minimal. I don't think the "floss" fishery in of itself is a conservation issue in those years. It was just more lamenting a quieter time on the rivers in general, and with so many flossers/snaggers some Chinook by catch is inevitable.

 

[wildmanyeah]

No, not at all. The sport take, esp in a dominant year on sockeye is minimal. I don't think the "floss" fishery in of itself is a conservation issue in those years. It was just more lamenting a quieter time on the rivers in general, and with so many flossers/snaggers some Chinook by catch is inevitable.

I don't think the sports take is much at all and I have fond memory if fishing on the Fraser and even fishing for coho with a float and pink wool on the chehalis before the channel changed and went to ****. What can't be ignored tho is when ever their is a preserved abundance of salmon, everyone and their dog gets out to get "their take". I am not saying that a bad thing but giving the population in the lower mainland now and given how week salmon stocks are that it makes for a very challenging environment.

The problem now is their is countless endanger Chinook runs. Thats the headwinds we face and while i too agree we have to work with first nations and DFO to come up with some solution. We need to use selective fishing technics and stop the gill nets. Gill nets are just not selective enough and fishing endanger run and praying the stocks to recover is not a solution.

 

[Derby]

No, not at all. The sport take, esp in a dominant year on sockeye is minimal. I don't think the "floss" fishery in of itself is a conservation issue in those years. It was just more lamenting a quieter time on the rivers in general, and with so many flossers/snaggers some Chinook by catch is inevitable.

Agree .. the floss fishery on a whole is really effective on the Fraser Chinooks.. much more then a bar fishery....

 

[Derby]

I don't think the sports take is much at all and I have fond memory if fishing on the Fraser and even fishing for coho with a float and pink wool on the chehalis before the channel changed and went to ****. What can't be ignored tho is when ever their is a preserved abundance of salmon, everyone and their dog gets out to get "their take". I am not saying that a bad thing but giving the population in the lower mainland now and given how week salmon stocks are that it makes for a very challenging environment.

The problem now is their is countless endanger Chinook runs. Thats the headwinds we face and while i too agree we have to work with first nations and DFO to come up with some solution. We need to use selective fishing technics and stop the gill nets. Gill nets are just not selective enough and fishing endanger run and praying the stocks to recover is not a solution.

Agree ...once upon a time before they were band a thing call Pen traps on the Fraser..very effective... thinking this would be a effect way to catch fish ...keep the accurate info and all bye catch could be released fairly un harmed.... fish wheels also worked good up in the canyon...

 

[wildmanyeah]

Agree .. the floss fishery on a whole is really effective on the Fraser Chinooks.. much more then a bar fishery....

Id be lieing if i never said I have not seen a flossier running down the beach with a Chinook on. Watching a freight train run downstream is sight to see.

That brings us back to how will they protect Chinook on the river this year if a sockeye fishery materializes?

 

[wildmanyeah]

For those that want to see sockeye spelled 10 different ways this is a neat history lesson.

https://books.google.com/books?id=WwtAAQAAMAAJ&lpg=RA4-PA46&ots=QPmtgsX6YG&dq=Pen traps fraser river&pg=RA1-PA65#v=onepage&q&f=false

They close the river on saturday and sunday to allow passage of fish up the river. I love this classic stuff